Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My Member's statement alluded to the fact that the leadership of my community are puzzled by the fact that the Chief Public Health Officer has carte blanche, that is full discretionary power, to approve self-isolation plans of medical patients in order to return to their respective communities without any consultations or approvals with local leadership prior to CPHO granting the approval. I believe this process is also done for contractors who come from out of territory to conduct work in the territories, as the leadership have never ever been contacted. Can the Minister of health or the Premier provide an explanation as to why the approval process does not include prior consultation with local leadership, considering we are in a pandemic? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a matter of fact, the Chief Public Health Officer has the authority to accept or deny applications for self-isolation. She has mandated, of course, that people isolate in the four hub communities, and there have been questions about exceptions so that people can go to their home community to isolate. I realize that that is the case in Fort Providence most recently. There is not a process that respects the privacy legislation, that allows the CPHO to contact the leadership and say: so and so wants to isolate; how do you feel about that? Rather, the advice that is given is that the individual himself or herself contact the community leadership, discuss their plan with the leadership, and achieve their buy-in as a way to ensure that the community is comfortable with them being there. The alternative is that they will of course isolate in the hub communities. Thank you.
There are grave concerns from my leadership that the virus could spread into our communities without a proven way to test each person for the coronavirus. There are confirmed cases in the Northwest Territories from people who have travelled out of territory. For the benefit of medical travel patients, which could mean a shorter stay at the isolation centre, and for the comfort level and certainty for local leadership, can the coronavirus testing be conducted on the travellers upon arrival to the NWT?
It is my understanding that the only travellers or essential workers who get immediate tests are people who are going into a healthcare setting, that other people do not receive those tests. That is primarily a function of our capacity, that, if we do not have people who are symptomatic, we do not really have a good test for them at this point. There is work going on to provide that kind of testing, which is not really testing; it's screening. That is coming down the pipe, but it does not exist now. The gold-star approach would be that everybody who comes into the NWT is screened to see if they have COVID, but unfortunately, we don't have the capacity to do that at this point. Right now, our goal is in the region of 500 tests a week. There are about 1,200 people a week who come into the NWT, so that is the gap we are looking at.
The chief and council of my community are upset that a nurse from the South is allowed to self-isolate at the local health centre where the residents of the community go for healthcare issues. I have also received another complaint of a social services employee returning from a visit to the east coast and is currently back on the job at the health centre. This is the health centre where all our people go who are the most vulnerable. There most likely was not any requirement for COVID testing. This again provokes the notion as to whether we are playing Russian roulette with the lives of the residents of Fort Providence. Can the Minister provide an explanation as to the arrangement for the nurse in question?
I would like to assure the Member for Deh Cho that we are not playing Russian roulette with the lives of anyone in the NWT, including the people who live in Fort Providence. It's my understanding that healthcare workers are in the exempt list, which means that they have very specific procedures to follow. They have to have a COVID test. They have to wear a mask. They are not allowed to socialize after work or leave the place in which they are staying. There are efforts to bridge the gap between providing the medical service required and keeping the population safe from this person who has recently arrived. I do not have specific information on the Fort Providence nurse, but I could certainly obtain that and share it with the Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
